


Take Care

by SunGirl



Category: Steam Powered Giraffe
Genre: Angst, Brief Mention of Suicide, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Character Death, Nightmares, Rabbit is a good big sister, bad memories, graphic depiction of injury, tw: scenes of war
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-09
Updated: 2014-02-09
Packaged: 2018-01-11 18:23:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1176363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunGirl/pseuds/SunGirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Spine has a nightmare. Rabbit reminds him that he doesn't always have to be the strong one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Take Care

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fic I wrote aaaaaaaaaaages ago, and I just edited it a bit and finally got around to posting it. Hope you all enjoy!

A bank of fog had descended on the battlefield. That was what he thought at first. But fog was not that awful shade of yellow-green. And it didn’t creep along the ground, didn’t invade every little hole and ditch as if it were determined to find those poor creatures who had curled up in it’s midst, desperately trying not to breath. But they couldn’t survive that way for long. The Spine waded cautiously into the mist, the light from his eyes brightening as he searched the ground for movement.

  
A dark shape lurched suddenly towards him, stumbling across the uneven ground. As the man came closer, the Spine reached out to steady him by the shoulders and felt the soldier collapse, shaking, into his arms.

  
He was a young man, tall and much too thin, the way most of them were, his white-blond hair slightly overgrown from it’s original standard cut. He clung desperately to the fabric of the Spine’s shirt, his breathing heavy and uneven. And then he began to cough. The Spine felt his heart sink.

  
“Where’s your mask?” His hands fumbled across the young man’s back and around his waist, searching for the small supply pack that held his salvation. But it was gone. “What happened to your mask? Did you drop it?”

  
The blond soldier made no answer for a moment but to continue coughing. Finally he managed to speak.

  
“Help.” His voice was so rasping as to make his words almost unintelligible. “Help. Can’t see. It hurts. Oh God, it hurts. Please.” He collapsed back into coughing, gasping for breath, his whole body trembling. “Help me.” He pleaded again. “Help me. Make it stop. Please.”

  
The Spine lifted the boy into his arms and took off running. He could already feel the grip on his shirt weakening. He glanced down at the soldier, praying that there was still time. And that was when he saw his face. Or rather, where his face would have been. Because there was almost nothing left.

  
There were eyes, barely, and something that might have once been a mouth. But the rest was featureless, blank, riddled with twisted scars, scabs and blisters.

  
“Peter?!”

  
“Help me.” The soft voice moaned again. “Please. Make it stop. Why won’t it stop? Please, please, why won’t you make it stop?!”

  
“I can’t, I...” He watched helplessly as the young man struggled, his hands clawing weakly first at the air, then at his own face and throat.

“There’s nothing I can do! I can’t stop it! I can’t do anything!”

  
“Make it stop!” The soldier’s hands suddenly seemed to have found their strength, and they fastened around the silver bot’s neck. He pulled himself up until his face was just inches from the Spine’s. “Please.” He begged, “Please, make it stop. Please, just... kill me.”

  
“No. No, please, I...”

  
“Kill me!!”

  
“The Spine? The Spine!”

  
His eyes snapped open and Rabbit’s face swam into view.

  
“You okay, th-the Spine?”

  
It was nighttime at Walter Manor, and Rabbit was perched on the edge of the Spine’s bed, her mismatched eyes glowing bright with concern.

The silver bot sat up slowly, trying to shake the feeling of dread his dream had left behind.

  
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine, I just..."

  
“You s-sure?” Rabbit reached out and put a hand gently on her brother’s shoulder. “You’re shaking.”

  
“No, I’m alright. It was nothing. Just a nightmare.”

  
“Do you wanna talk about it?”

  
“No.” He forced a smile. “Really, Rabbit, it’s nothing to worry about.”

  
“You don’t have to do this, y-you know.”

  
“Do what?”

  
Rabbit frowned, scooting closer.

  
“Pretend.”

  
“I...” He carefully avoided looking Rabbit in the eyes. “I’m not pretending. I’m fine.”

  
“Liar.” The eldest Walter Bot watched her brother carefully, a determined look on her face. “I know what you’re doing. But you don’t have to. Not with me. If somethin’s wrong, I’ll take care of you, m’k-kay?”

  
The Spine turned his head away, unable to bear the sincerity in Rabbit’s face.

  
“I don’t need to be taken care of. By anyone.”

  
There was a long, dragging silence before Rabbit asked quietly,

  
“It’s that war, isn’t it?”

  
“What war?”

  
“The one they’ve been showing on the T--T--TV. It makes me remember how it used to be for us. Makes you scared it’s gonna be like that again.”

  
“Don’t-- Don’t be silly.” The Spine tried to laugh, but it didn’t sound quite right. “I know that’s over for us. Besides, it... it doesn’t even bother me anymore. I barely think about it at all, really, it’s not a big deal, it... it’s...” He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, hoping Rabbit wouldn’t notice.

  
But of course, she did.

  
“Are you cr-rying?”

  
“No! No of course I’m not, like I said I’m fine! I’m not worried or frightened or anything. There’s no need to make something out of nothing, Rabbit. It was nothing. It was a nightmare, just a harmless dream!”

  
“The Spine, please...”

  
“Just a nightmare, Rabbit! Nothing to worry about, nothing to be frightened of, nothing at all! Nothing, do you hear me?! Nothing!!!”

  
A sob rose in his throat and escaped before he could think to stop it. Rabbit abandoned all pretense and pulled her brother close in a hug.

  
“It’s okay.” She whispered, rubbing the Spine’s back to calm him as he struggled against the contact. “Shhhhhh, it’s ok-k-k-kay.”

  
“I’m fine!” The Spine protested, still trying to push Rabbit off of him. “I’m fine, I’m fine, let go of me! Let go!!!! I’m fine! I’m not crying, I am perfectly fine I don’t need-- I don’t need anything, I’m fine, Rabbit, I’m fi--”

  
He choked on the word, wrapping his arms around Rabbit in turn as tears he could no longer hold back began to stream down his face.

  
“Shhhhh.” Rabbit began to rock gently from side to side. “It’s alright.”

  
“I’m sorry,” the Spine managed, his voice trembling. “I don’t know why I-- really I’m--”

  
“No.” Rabbit shook her head. “You’re not fine. But th-that’s okay.”

  
“No, I’m-- I--”

  
“It’s okay.”

  
“I--”

  
The Spine’s grip on Rabbit tightened and he buried his face in his sister’s shoulder, his whole body shaking with sobs. Something inside him was fighting desperately to hold back this tide of emotion, but it was a losing battle. His carefully maintained self control had vanished, and he had no idea how to find it again. He wanted to say something to Rabbit, wanted to apologize, to explain, to make excuses, but he couldn’t seem to find his voice. Instead he clung tightly to his sister, as if Rabbit were the only thing capable of saving him, a single island in an ocean of thoughts and feelings he didn’t know how to express.

  
Rabbit just held onto the Spine and let him cry, continuing to rub his back as she softly began to hum the tune to “On Top of the Universe.”

  
They stayed that way for a long time, until finally the Spine’s energy was spent, his sobs fading into a string of whispered apologies as he pulled away from Rabbit, wiping the oily tears out of his eyes.

  
“I-- I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-- you didn’t need to-- I didn’t want--”

  
“Shhh.” By applying slight pressure to her brother’s shoulders, Rabbit pushed the Spine back until he was laying down again. “You don’t have to ap-pologize for anything.” She frowned momentarily. “Except for trying to hide that.”

  
“But I--” The Spine was avoiding Rabbit’s eyes again. “You shouldn’t have to... to see me like...”

  
Rabbit let out a long sigh, a cloud of steam curling to the ceiling.

  
“I’m your sister, the Spine. More than that, I’m your older sister. I’m s-supposed to see you however you really are, and if you’re not doing so great I’m supposed to be there for you. I’m supposed to help. I’m supposed to take care of you.”

  
“You... Rabbit, I don’t need...”

  
“Yes you do.”

  
The Spine opened his mouth, said nothing, and closed it again. Rabbit reached out a hand and gently squeezed his shoulder. For a long time neither of them spoke, until finally Rabbit broke the silence.

  
“Do you think you’re gonna b-be able to go back to sleep?”

  
“Yes.” The Spine would have said that in any case, but Rabbit could tell he was sincere this time. “Of course I can.”

  
“Good.” She gave her brother one last encouraging smile before standing up and quietly departing the room. But she had barely made it out into the hallway before the Spine’s voice stopped her.

  
“Rabbit?”

  
“Yeah?”

  
“I-I... I, um...”

  
“What is it, the Spine?”

  
“Do you think you could, maybe... maybe stay?”

  
Rabbit’s small smile was barely visible in the darkness.

  
“Of c-course.”

**Author's Note:**

> I may also post some of my other SPG fics here later, since I didn't have an AO3 before and just published them on tumblr. Not sure. If you want you can see all my stuff at  
> http://macbookmori.tumblr.com/fanfiction


End file.
